Akshay Kumar to pay compensation for not promoting Joker?

Akshay-Sonakshi's Joker has opened to not-so-impressive reviews. The film directed by Shirish Kunder released on August 31.

After hit Rowdy Rathore, Akshay Kumar and Sonakshi Sinha are back with Joker. Here's a look.

Sonakshi-Akshay in a candid moment from Joker.

Sonakshi Sinha in a dance sequence from the film.

Indian beauty Sonakshi Sinha looks pretty.

After the success of Dabangg and Rowdy Rathore, expectations are high from the Sinha girl.

Akshay Kumar in a still from his upcoming film Joker.

This is Shirish Kunder's second directorial venture after Jaan-E-Mann.

Sonakshi Sinha and Shreyas Talpade in Joker.

Shirish Kunder's Joker is a sci-fi film starring Akshay Kumar and Sonakshi Sinha in the lead.

Akshay Kumar did not promote Joker due to reported differences with maker Shirish Kunder, and as a result, the film ended up quite the clown at the box office. This even led to distributors demanding a compensation for their losses from Akshay, claiming that had he been a part of the promotions, the film’s business would’ve gone up. Film experts say it’s a given ethic on an actor’s part to do all he can to build the anticipation around his film, but he alone cannot be blamed for a flop.

“Once an actor takes up a project, he should not abandon it. Good ethics is good business. One should honour his/her commitment to the project and should not desert others. Having said that, I would say that it is all about morality and you can’t force any one. Moreover, an unwilling actor will do more harm than good to a project during promotions,” says filmmaker Mukesh Bhatt.

Filmmaker Vinod Bachchan feels that actors are the king, and a filmmaker can’t do much if an actor does not promote a film. “There has to be a reason if an actor decides not to promote the film. Agar koi actor decide karta hai ki nahi promote karega film, toh producer kya kar sakta hai? Who follows rules in Bollywood?” Trade analyst Taran Adarsh says, “I know Akshay for long and he is very professional. So I’m sure there has to be something major to put him off. Fixing the reason behind an actor backing out is more important than putting him in the dock.”

Rajini paid up for losses. Should Akki do it, too?South Superstar Rajinikanth had agreed to pay back to theatres 33% of the amount for which his 2008 release Kuselan was sold in the Tamil Nadu territory. The film had flopped bad. He also repaid distributors the money after another film featuring him — Baba — which released in 2002, flopped.

For any project, it is unfortunate that the lead actor does not promote it Aneez Bazmee, filmmaker

Fixing the reason behind an actor backing out is more important than putting him in the dock Taran Adarsh, trade analystWhose side are you on? Can Akki’s reluctance be blamed for the debacle of Joker? Tell us on www.facebook.com/htcity

MORE ON JOKER

Akshay Kumar abandons Joker's promotionsAkshay Kumar seems to have abandoned Shirish Kunder’s fantasy film, Joker. The lead actor and co-producer of the film is nowhere to be seen at the film’s promotions. Only Sonakshi Sinha, who plays the female lead, and Chitrangda Singh, who features in an item number, are present at most events.

Of course, in the past too, lead actors have stayed away from the promotion of their films, but only when they were busy shooting for another film at the time. But, Akki is very much around, and making other appearances such as at the finale of a children’s dance reality show and for his other film, Oh My God, which is releasing much later. READ STORY

Item number in Joker raises activist's hecklesHindi movie Joker, scheduled for release Aug 31, could face legal hurdles over a raunchy item number that allegedly insults patriotic sentiments, an activist said here on Thursday.

A legal notice has been served on the Central Board of Film Certification demanding deletion of the item number.

The song has "caused an intolerable insult to our first warrior of independence, Rani Laxmibai, famous as Jhansi ki Rani," said Rajkumar Tak, the Maharashtra director of International Human Rights Association. FULL STORYWATCH: Akshay Kumar in Jugnu from JokerThough there's nothing extraordinary about music of this romantic song, but Udit Narayan's magical voice makes it bearable. Akshay Kumar and Sonakshi Sinha starrer Joker is set to release on Aug 31.

"Udit Narayan is singing for Akshay in a romantic song called Jugnu Banke Tu. Udit has given many hits for Akshay specially the romantic songs, so we were keen to rope him in for this song and we are glad that the pair is back together for this song," Kunder hadsaid in a statement. READ MORE

I don't target 100 crore club: Akshay KumarAkshay Kumar certainly feels that comedy has to be an inherent element in each of his films. Starting off with a 'family comedy' Housefull 2 and then an 'action comedy' Rowdy Rathore, both of which also facilitated an entry for him in the 100 crore club, he is now jumping genres with 'sci-fi comedy' Joker. Moreover, the promos have pretty much indicated that this is a new world that Shirish Kunder has created with the film. One can well expect a different experience for Akshay to be finding himself in this world. MORE ON THIS

Akshay Kumar to redub for JokerShirish Kunder's upcoming film Joker starring Akshay Kumar and Sonakshi Sinha will be redubbed. However, the makers of the film will only redo the sequences which feature Akshay referring certain Indian states in the film. The reason behind this is that since the film is said to be based in a fictional village in India, there cannot be any reference to existing Indian states, namely Rajasthan, MP and UP. SEE MORE

Akshay Kumar and Sonakshi Sinha in a still from Joker

Akshay Kumar’s Joker to be screened in space?The last time Shirish Kunder directed a movie (Tees Maar Khan, 2010), it sank without a trace. So, this time around, he seems to be trying everything possible to ensure that his upcoming sci-fi film, Joker, doesn’t face the same fate. He may not have found aliens to come and fill seats in theatres, but he’s got plans of taking the film to space!

In a promotional gimmick to beat all promotional gimmicks, it seems that producers UTV-Disney are planning to screen the upcoming film 230 miles above the earth, at the International Space Station (ISS).

A trade source reveals that the filmmakers are in talks with The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) to work out the logistics to screen the film at the space station for astronaut Sunita Williams.

Shirish Kunder goes high tech for JokerDirector Shirish Kunder’s Joker is full of visual effects, what with aliens and UFOs being integral to the plot. The director is now cutting a fresh trailer of his forthcoming film to give a taste of these heavy-duty VFX to the audience, and has even roped in international technicians. “I am currently making a second trailer of Joker which will be laden with visual effects and many more things that we haven’t disclosed so far,” admits Shirish.

The trailer-in-making will apparently feature the much talked about UFO and aliens from the film. The makers have hired around 30 ace international technicians to cut this trailer, which will be aired a week before the film’s release. READ ON